True or False: Because we have freedom of speech, everyone can say anything they want whenever they want.

The First Amendment and unprotected speech

The First Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. (adopted as part of the Bill of Rights in 1789)

Unprotected speech The Supreme Court has ruled that we can’t just say whatever we want whenever we want. In other words, The First Amendment is not absolute. A few public interests— national security, justice, personal safety — override freedom of speech. There are NINE kinds of unprotected speech. The following types of speech are NEVER protected by the Constitution.

1. Defamation/libel Defamation: to damage a person’s reputation or good name by slander (spoken) or libel (written). Examples could be words or pictures that expose a person to hatred, shame, disgrace, contempt or ridicule, that injures his reputation or causes him to be shunned, or that could damage him in his occupation. In order to prove you’ve been “libeled” you must prove the information is false. If it’s true, it can run.

2.Obscenity Works, when taken as a whole, do not have serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value, usually due to content. This is VERY difficult to prove. Community standards typically decide what is obscene and what isn’t. Obscenity is not the same thing as profanity.

3. Invasion of privacy The violation of a person’s right to be free from outside interference or publicity which causes mental distress. Public officials (ex: politicians) and public figures (ex: celebrities) have limited rights of privacy.

4. Copyright infringement This protects photographs, song lyrics, CD covers, advertising designs, cartoon characters, slogans, titles and phrases from being used for commercial gain. Fair use allows journalists to speak editorially or to cover as news items copyrighted items (like a music or movie review). There are limits as to how much of an item you can reproduce. Napster, anyone?

5. Incitement to break the law It is illegal to encourage or inspire others to break the law. Example: You cannot encourage a group of people to break into an office to steal personal or financial records even if you believe those records would help disclose criminal activity.

6. Fighting words This is language likely to provoke a fight or that are likely to cause immediate violence among ordinary men. Hate speech can fall into this category. This is a difficult area to prove in a court of law. There has to be evidence that the only reaction of a reasonable person would be violence.

7. Clear and present danger Speech that has clear and immediate threats to national security. This is why you can’t threaten the president or report secret military plans or threaten to blow up an airplane as you wait in line at the airport. Yelling fire in a crowded theatre would also constitute clear and present danger.

8. Advertisements for illegal products Publications cannot accept advertising for products or services that are illegal. For high schools, this includes liquor and cigarettes, as those are illegal for the vast majority of our readers.

9. Speech disruptive to school activities High school students cannot print content or information that substantially disrupts the school day. This also includes spoken words and actions. You couldn’t write an editorial asking for students to walk out of class at a certain time to protest a new policy. Such action would cause disruption to normal activity. You cannot call in a bomb threat to school to avoid taking a test that day.

For each scenario, answer the question based on your notes of Unprotected Speech (yes, you can use them!. A reporter for a student newspaper writes a column critical of the administration’s decision for the entire school to say the Pledge of Allegiance each morning. The reporter encourages students to stage a “walk-out” the following school day. He calls for everyone to get up and leave their classrooms and assemble on the front lawn of the school rather than say the pledge. Can the reporter call for such an activity? Why or why not?

. The Pitch, a local news and entertainment magazine, runs a story about rap group that recently played at a KC venue. They published the lyrics to their music, which contains numerous uses of profanity and sexual references. Some readers are angry about these lyrics and want to sue the publication for being obscene. What sort of argument do the readers have? Is it legitimate?

.You write a review of the high school musical for the newspaper. You attended the musical and made notes about the performance. Your review contains some negative criticism as well as some positive points of the performance. The musical director reads the review and demands you print an apology for the negative things you printed. He says the review damaged his reputation as a director and the reputation of his students. Must you print an apology? Why or why not?

1.Tom Cruise is angry at a photographer from the National Enquirer because he was photographed with his daughter while shopping at a local store. He says his privacy has been invaded and plans to sue the publication. What sort of argument does he have? Is it legitimate?

6.A member of the student council at South, angry about the administration’s decision to cancel the annual Battle of the Bands competition, writes an angry response on her personal blog from her home computer. She calls the administration “a bunch of lying pigs” and calls for students to send angry s to them just “to piss them off more.” When the administration reads the content of this blog, they decide to punish the student by not allowing her to run for student council office in the future. The student plans to sue on the grounds that her right to free speech has been violated. Does she have a case? Why or why not?